ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Rookie Bills linebacker Paul Posluszny's season is over, and quarterback Craig Nall is back with the team after signing a one-year contract on Monday, three weeks after Buffalo cut him.
Posluszny became the sixth Bills player - and third defensive starter - placed on the injured reserve list this season after the rookie second-round draft pick broke his left forearm in the second quarter of a 38-7 loss at New England on Sunday.
Posluszny, who had surgery Monday, was hurt when he was making a tackle and got his arm caught underneath Patriots running back Laurence Maroney. A two-time college defensive player of the year at Penn State, Posluszny had a team-leading 23 tackles in Buffalo's first two games.
The Bills linebacking corps is already depleted with starter Keith Ellison (high ankle sprain) expected to miss the next two games and Coy Wire (sprained knee) out indefinitely.
Nall's signing comes a day after starter J.P. Losman sprained his left knee in the first series against New England. NFL Network's Adam Schefter is reporting that Losman will be out for two weeks with a sprained left MCL. Buffalo needed a veteran to back up rookie third-round draft pick Trent Edwards, who is expected to make his first NFL start Sunday, when the Bills host the New York Jets.
Nall is familiar with the Bills offense after he spent last season and all of training camp this summer with the team.
He's a five-year NFL veteran, who spent his first four seasons as a backup in Green Bay. The Bills signed him in spring 2006, believing he could challenge Losman for the starting job.
Nall's chances were sidetracked by a hamstring injury, and he spent last season as the team's third-stringer. Nall then lost the backup job to Edwards this past training camp.
He's appeared in only six games, all as a backup, and gone 23-of-33 for 314 yards passing and four touchdowns.
Nall's agent, Robb Nelson, said his client had workouts with several teams in the past three weeks, but was happy to return to Buffalo.
"It's a situation that he knows and he's obviously not holding a grudge," Nelson said.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
